at one time
112
2.8
- idiom
:
en otro tiempo
- People believed at one time that the world was flat, but that idea was eventually proven wrong.
- only at one time
- at one time families
- process at one time
And, you know, bombing people from the air at one time was taboo.
- And, you know, bombing people from the air at one time was taboo.
- and at one time that bothered me. It doesn't anymore
- I just wanted to memorialize somebody who at one time had been a friend.
- You may have even revered that parent at one time yourself.
- I mean, this is I'm obsessed with this and at one time that bothered me.
- So because I can imagine these were people that at one time were not obese who got stressed.
- So at one time I was putting it all into my work.
- This guy, he, he created what was at one time the biggest grossing anime of all time.
- It's not this world was one piece at one time, broken up.
- Steven was at one time he was the provider.
- There is a me, a Doctor Sadler, a Gregory Sadler who at one time was a nameless baby, right?
- And so, yeah, I was just walking many worlds in Baltimore at one time.
- stocks sell at silly prices from time to time. Most stocks at one time or another sell it. Very silly prices,
Examples
-
All the park rangers here at Alcatraz were at one time guards, myself included.
Fiction book (1993) -
Yes, it probably was a hospital at one time.
-
So at one time I was putting it all into my work.
-
So basically, I think that we are all here at one time and we might all witness the same thing.
-
I worked construction at one time.
-
Her dark hair and dark eyes say that at one time she must have been very beautiful.
Fiction book (1991) -
At one time, I thought she would return from the grave, but that is not to be.
-
McMenamin's law firm at one time had 18 lawyers but now is down to two.
Academic text (1996) -
In fact, I myself, at one time, wondered about his phenomenal rise to the top.
Academic text (2017) -
The Cheyenne even believed that at one time there had been a great flood.
Fiction book (1992)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
At an earlier time
∞
1.0
At some time in the past when something was true but not now
750
1.0
On a single occasion
625
1.1
At an earlier time than now or the time mentioned
161
1.9
At an earlier time
1
8.1
At an earlier time but not now
Antonyms
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase is directly compositional: 'at' marks a temporal location, 'one' specifies a single instance, and 'time' denotes a point or period, so 'at one time' naturally yields 'at a particular (often earlier) time.' This mapping is common across languages (equivalent to 'once' or 'formerly') and would be readily inferable by a B1 learner who knows the constituent words.
Etymology
The adverb at one time comes from the idea of one moment in the past. Think of an old photo or memory from 'one time' before now, and you can see why the phrase means 'formerly'.